Frilled Shark - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

Rather uncommon, the frilled shark has been recorded from a number of widely scattered locations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the eastern Atlantic, it occurs off northern Norway, northern Scotland and western Ireland, from France to Morocco including Madeira, and off Mauritania. In the central Atlantic, it has been caught at several locations along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from north of the Azores to the Rio Grande Rise off southern Brazil, as well as over the Vavilov Ridge off West Africa. In the western Atlantic, it has been reported from off New England, Georgia, and Suriname. In the western Pacific, it is known from southeastern Honshu, Japan, to Taiwan, off New South Wales and Tasmania in Australia, and around New Zealand. In the central and eastern Pacific, it has been found off Hawaii, California, and northern Chile. The frilled sharks off southern Africa were described as a different species, C. africana, in 2009.

The frilled shark inhabits the outer continental shelf and upper to middle continental slope, seeming to favor upwellings and other biologically productive areas. Though it has been caught from a depth of 1,570 m (5,150 ft), it usually does not occur deeper than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). In Suruga Bay, it is most common at a depth of 50–200 m (160–660 ft), except from August to November when the temperature at the 100 m (330 ft) water layer exceeds 15 °C (59 °F) and the sharks shift into deeper water. On rare occasions, this species has been seen at the surface. The frilled shark is usually found close to the bottom, with one individual observed swimming over an area of small sand dunes. However, its diet suggests that it does make substantial forays upward into open water. This species may make vertical migrations, approaching the surface at night to feed. There is spatial segregation by size and reproductive condition.